MUNICH -- The recovery of the German new-car market stalled in July after registrations fell 25 percent to 236,393, according to data from the KBA motor authority.
Sales were hit by the lack of availability of many models due to the microchip shortage that has caused production stoppages, the VDIK importers association said.
The July drop was also partly due to the high registration figures of the previous year, when dealerships opened for business after COVID-19 lockdown measures were eased, the VDIK said.
VDIK President Reinhard Zirpel said the association's members are seeing high order backlogs. "This indicates that the market is not realizing its true potential due to ongoing supply chain challenges," Zirpel said in a statement.
The July decline ended four months of sales gains in Europe's biggest market.
Tesla had the biggest sales gain last month as EV sales boomed. The automaker's registrations jumped 141 percent year-on-year.
Opel and Land Rover were the only other brands to boost volume, with Opel sales up 16 percent and Land Rover gaining 2.6 percent.
Kerrigan Advisors recently sat down with Donnie and Denny Buckalew, co-owners of Buckalew Chevrolet, the 5th highest-volume Chevrolet dealership in Houston, Texas, to discuss their perspective on the changing auto retail industry and how challenges facing single-point dealers influenced their decision to sell their dealership.
Volkswagen brand, the market leader, saw sales fall 17 percent.
Among other German brands, Mercedes-Benz fell 38 percent, BMW 28 percent and Audi 23 percent.
Among import brands, Ford fell 49 percent. Jeep, Renault and Nissan each saw their volume plunge 43 percent.
Sales to private customers dropped by 36 percent and sales to business fleets were down 17 percent.
EV sales boom
Buyers continued to switch to electrified cars from diesel and gasoline vehicles.
Registrations of diesel cars fell 48 percent for a market share of 19.7 percent. Gasoline car registrations declined by 40 percent for a 39 percent market share.
Sales of full-electric cars rose by 52 percent for a 10.8 percent market share. Registrations of plug-in hybrids jumped 58 percent for a 12.8 percent share.
Registrations are up 7 percent to 1.63 million in the first seven months.
The VDA industry association said a return to pre-pandemic sales levels of 2019 is "still not in sight."
